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[Ar¢tos]

Don Quixote is an interesting read. I'm struggling to finish The 20.000 Miles Undersea because of its abuse of annoying descriptions, the 2 volumes of Don Quixote were much easier to read.
The only book I recommend to not read is Baudolino by Umberto Eco, i literally threw it away because it was SOOOO BORING! After reading The Name of the Rose, reading Baudolino was a major disappointment.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

If you like short stories, Ted Chiang is a Master.
He wrote Stories of Your Life and Others and Exhalation: Stories.

Thought provoking stuff in the good sense.

Good recommendations! I've read Stories of Your Life and Others and thought it had a lot of variety. I think the first one was my favorite, a mythical take on the tower of Babylon

 

[Gargus]

 

[Ballthyrm]

What do you recommend?

• Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond
• Wind, Sand and Stars by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
• The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman
• The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
• Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke

 

[Torrent of Pork]

If you're not sensitive to a male homosexual relationship in your fantasy fiction might I recommend 'Guild of the Cowrey Catchers' by Abigail Hilton. She has amazing characters, incredible character growth, and a compelling plotline. The setting is relatively low fantasy with a nautical theme, think the Golden Age of Sail without gunpowder or cannons.

You can get all 5 books with a single Audible credit. Full Cast with music and sound effects, very rare in modern audio books. Fruity bits start in book 3, goes Hard R in a chapter of book 5 that can be safely skipped without missing any plot. All over the place in tone over the course of the entire series, from genuine comedy to quiet horror over the aftermath of the actions of one particular character.

 

[Ballthyrm]

I've read Stories of Your Life and Others and thought it had a lot of variety

Well Exhalation has a couple of really good ones. LIke The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate which is my favorite thing i've read this year.

 

[GAMETA]

Don Quixote is an interesting read. I'm struggling to finish The 20.000 Miles Undersea because of its abuse of annoying descriptions, the 2 volumes of Don Quixote were much easier to read.
The only book I recommend to not read is Baudolino by Umberto Eco, i literally threw it away because it was SOOOO BORING! After reading The Name of the Rose, reading Baudolino was a major disappointment.

That's a great suggestion, I never got to read Don Quixote. Thanks

The only book I've ever gave up was the Bible... read Genesis and Exodus, couldn't find the will to continue, lol.

 

[GAMETA]

Non fiction books I read and recommend are Sapiens, from Yuval Harari and 12 Rules for Life from Jordan Peterson.

Some people I talk with said to me that Sapiens is history for dummies. Perhaps it is but as a dude with a mediocre formal education -schools in my country are really bad- I found it very interesting. The book fixed many blind spots I had in my understanding of our species history. I don't know where you live but give it a look, perhaps you will find interesting.

12 Rules for Life is the most dark self-help book I ever read and probably because of it, one of the most helpful. I wish I had read it in my teenage years. So many misunderstandings would be undone. There are no "don't worry, be happy" or things like that in 12 Rules for Life. Only no nonsense stuff with science, philosophy and religion to back it up. There aren't novel ideas or mind shattering philosophy like Nietzsche's books. It is a book which explains why many common sense ideas survived for centuries.

Bought Sapiens, my notion of history is pretty bad too

 

[GAMETA]

So far:

Crime and Punishment - Fiódor Dostoyévski
Demons - Fiódor Dostoyévski
Neuromancer - Willian Gibson
Sapiens - Yuval Noah Harari
Ulysses - James Joyce

All in Portuguese except for Ulysses which I found in English from second hand pretty cheap.

I'll be looking for a good edition of Don Quixote and keep an eye for The North Water.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions

 

[Tesseract]

enjoy neuromancer my dude, it's absolutely glorious

 

[Elektro Demon]

 

[NewComer]

Oh man, I am glad NeoGaf has plenty of readers here! I would definitely recommend the following:

1. Grinding It Out by Ray Kroc - This is a real story about a relentless middle-aged man who got stuff done

2. The Hiltons: The true story of an American Dynasty - I found the real Conrad Hilton behind the massive hotel business to be a fascinating character who triumphed and failed in glorious manners

3. How Will You Measure Yourself? by - This is a philosophical / psychological book that teaches you how to think. It definitely acts as a manual on how to pick your values and how to avoid disappointment which I believe is critical to living the good life.

4. Charlie's Almanack - This book is more of a mixture between self-help and psychology. There is a whole lot to learn about Charlie Munger and the investment world. He really pulls no punches with his advice and harsh honesty. It gives you a lot of wise tips on how to build wealth, knowledge and how to live a happy life. Reading it makes me feel productive which doesn't hurt.

 

[nikolino840]

 

[Deleted member 713885]

If you want to check out some 'Alt-Lit'

Check out.

The Atlantic named this author as possibly Steve Bannon's contact in the White House (Rosie Gray, The Atlantic Feb 10 2017: " 'Think you should speak directly to my WH cutout / cell leader,' Yarvin said in an email. 'I've never met him and don't know his identity, we just DM on Twitter. He's said to be 'very close' to Bannon...Goal is to intimidate Congress with pure masculine show of youth, energy. Trump is said to know, will coordinate with powerful EOs..."); and a recent Vox article (Tara Isabella Burton, Vox June 1 2018) claimed that he is the "text" to Jordan Peterson's "subtext," and a "distilled" form of Peterson. Distilled means purer: yes, so why not read and understand the purer version? T. I. Burton also adds in this article that this author BAP is a kind of priest-king to thousands on Twitter and outside and is possibly leading a spiritual reawakening.Some say that this book, found in a safebox in the port area of Kowloon, was dictated, because Bronze Age Pervert refuses to learn what he calls "the low and plebeian art of writing."

"At a glance, Mike comes off like a 1980s teen movie bully on downers." - Playboy Magazine. "...Mike Ma bragged about crashing a White House press conference." - The Huffington Post. Now, you can read his long-awaited first book. Harassment Architecture has been described as an almost plotless and violent march against what the author calls the "lowerworld". Written in many small to medium sized chapters, it's the story of a man who aims to usher in collapse. He's sick on his surroundings, bound by them, but still seeking the way out.

 

[SpiceRacz]

 

[Cato]

The Prince

 

[mortal]

 

[Romulus]

I read about 2 books per week, all scifi with a lot of known and indie authors.

The Forever War
Old Mans War
Archangel Down
The Legion and the Lioness
Battlefield Earth
Enders Game
The Bobverse

Just a few

I would like to add Thrawn to these. Haven't read as much in 2020

 

[Fugitive Sex]

There's a lot of trash in this thread.
Here, have some nice classic literature, Bel Ami by Guy de Maupassant.

 

[Arimer]

The Broken Empire series. Starts with Prince of Thorns.

 

[losslessFlac]

This one for those with any mild interest in the truth behind energy policy, environmentalism and climate policy.
Was eye opening how different the narrative is from MSM and scientific establishment.

 

[DogofWar]

Nice thread bump...

Brave new World is a real classic that is tragically relevant in todays world. So that is my strongest recommendation.

 

[teezzy]

While, I'm actually illiterate, and may or may not have read any of these but here's a list...


Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
Shane by Jack Schaefer
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
Stoner by John Williams
Story of the Eye by Georges Bataille
The War of Art by Steven Pressfield
How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big by Scott Adams
A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis by Sigmund Freud

A good mix of modern classic literature and non fiction, if I do say so myself.

Enjoy GAMETA

I'd say these are all meaningful in their own way.

 

[SinDelta]

1984 - George Orwell - More relevant now than ever.
The Lord of The Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien - Cornerstone of fantasy.
Dune - Frank Herbert - Cornerstone of science fiction.
Starship Troopers - Robert A. Heinlein - In the book mobile infantry don't use Hollywood tactics. Less action packed then the movie, far more thoughtful.
Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card - Excellent.

Your mileage may vary, but I enjoy these regardless-
Harry Potter - J.K. Rowling - Far better than the movies.
A Song of Ice and Fire - George R.R. Martin - Massive amount of material the show outright omitted or screwed up. Unfinished unfortunately.
The Stormlight Archives - Brian Sanderson - Amazing, but unfinished.

 

[sircaw]

Slaughterhouse-five
A brave new world.
do androids dream of electric sheep
heart of darkness
DaVinci code

 

[appaws]

Meaningful Literature, Gotcha!

A Separate Peace by John Knowles. If you didn't read it in High School which used to be common but sadly isn't done anymore.
Definetly agree with Dog of War about Brave New World.

For History, I'll leave out American History stuff....
The Sleepwalkers by Christopher Clark. Greatest European history book I have read. Explains the terribly stupid lead-up to WW1.
Plutarch's Lives
Marc Morris' books on British history, especially his book on the Norman Conquest and The Great and Terrible King on Edward I.

 

[ProgenitorCastle]

A timeless classic that's a primer of why things like invasion of privacy are for lack of better word, "bad." As the years go by, it becomes more and more relevant unfortunately. A truly haunting book that's worth reading.